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ECU professor stresses gimmick-free diets in new book

ECU nutrition science professor Roman Pawlak is shown with his new book, “Healthy Diets without Secrets.” The book was printed in Polish and released in Poland this summer. (Contributed photo)

Many weight loss diets are extremely unhealthy and leave dieters poorly nourished, East Carolina University nutrition science professor Dr. Roman Pawlak said in his new book, “Healthy Diets without Secrets.”

The book provides science-based reasoning for eating healthy, identifies diets that should be avoided and outlines the principles of healthy eating.

“I wanted to clarify diet myths and give people evidenced-based guidelines on what they should be eating,” said Pawlak.

Pawlak said that diets which emphasize eating only certain food are not healthy. “Most of these diets are based on little to no factual nutrition information,” he said.

Pawlak said he’s aware that some health professionals recommend eating smaller meals more frequently because it slightly increases metabolic rate. “But people who eat more frequently have much higher risk for colorectal cancer, and thus, such dietary advice violates the ‘do not harm’ principle,”he said.

The book also offers health and diet suggestions for health conditions like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and osteoporosis.

Department of Nutrition Science dietetic program director Sylvia Escott-Stump, former president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, wrote the book’s introduction.

Unless fluent in Polish, American dieters eager to follow Pawlak’s advice might have to wait until the book is translated, sometime in the near future Pawlak said. It was printed in Polish and released to major books stores throughout Poland in July. He is now working on an English translation of this third book, “In Defense of Vegetarianism.”

Pawlak is associate professor of nutrition science in the College of Human Ecology. He holds a master’s in human nutrition from Andrews University in Michigan and a doctorate in nutrition and food systems from the University of Southern Mississippi. Pawlak is a registered dietitian.

For additional information, contact Pawlak at pawlakr@ecu.edu or call 252-328-2350.